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The heart of a complaint

Every complaint has at its heart a genuine treasure: a something that the complainer values and cares about.

It’s so easy to miss this when we dismiss people as moaners, whiners, or nuisances.

When our complaints are disregarded the hurt and resentment comes not so much from you not doing what we asked of you, but that you didn’t see us first and foremost as human beings with cares and concerns that matter.

Instead of seeing complaining colleagues, customers, family as irritants, can you allow yourself to see the committed person behind the complaint? It’s a far more powerful, relationship-building, trust-developing place from which to respond.

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2 thoughts on “The heart of a complaint”

What a valuable perspective to have. Oftentimes the reaction to complainers is to either complain yourself or dismiss them. However, like you said, instead of seeing our friends, colleagues, and families as irritants, we should look beyond that and try to understand why they are complaining. Thanks for the reminder and I hope to have the patience to follow through with this challenge.

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